HimHer
by Gilded Blue
Summary: When Bulma Briefs makes a deal with Son Gohan to take her aimless and reckless daughter under his wing, the one night stand that results eventually sends Gohan's life spiraling out of control.
1. Chapter 1

**Him**._Her_.

_Ladies first._

I took a deep breath as I began walking towards the door, checking myself in the reflection of the glass, examining the black heels and a tight black dress, a little veiled hat and a matching satin clutch. I'm beautiful, don't you just love me?

They've already begun and once I step in the room, I see thirty heads spin around to look (and glare) at me. I didn't say anything but I scanned the area as quickly as I could, trying to find my place.

My eyes run across the room and I could see my mother and father already sitting off to the side. My brother was off somewhere with Goten, probably making out because they're exactly as warped as I am. Weird families, what can I say? It makes sense to me that Goten would be losing his mind today, and he doesn't need to be in public, he needs to be with Trunks.

Dad must have said something sarcastic or inappropriate, because mother slaps him hard on the shoulder. It makes a loud clapping sound but no one really seems to notice or look over at my parents. I guess this sort of behavior is expected from us. He glares at her but doesn't respond. I don't want to walk towards my parents but I do. "Bra," Mom says sharply in my ear, "you're late." I'm seated and they begin again.

"Ugh," I hear a voice off to the side and immediately I know the speaker. I take pleasure in listening in on their conversation, soaking in his outrage. "How awful can she be? I can't believe Bulma and Vegeta raised such a brat, and I can't believe she has so little respect for-"

"Gohan, you ought to calm down." His wife hushes him, rubbing his arm. I tilt my head to the side just slightly and I can see him muttering as he cleans his glasses. Wonderful, I think. You know, at this point I'm kind of used to his snide remarks about me and it gives me some level of satisfaction to know that I've made Son Gohan's day just a little bit harder.

Gohan's such an uptight nerd. Truly, it's awful that I have to see the Son family, Goten aside, as often as I do. Gokou's a complete moron like my dad says, and Pan needs to get a life, and the worst of all of them is stuffy, high-strung Gohan. ChiChi was the only of the Son family I _liked _and now she's dead.

I guess it's fitting I should, at some point, come to reflect on Son ChiChi's caring personality and great cooking skills at her funeral. I guess a lot of people don't blame my mom or Gohan for that matter, for being so angry at me. I mean, honestly, to think that I'd show up late for the service. But then again, I've done worse.

By the time I reach my parents, mother's eyes are sharpened like daggers and I suppress something like a giggle as she says, "You had better have a good excuse for this," Mom snaps at me under her breath sharply. She's breathing fire straight down my neck and the only thing there is to do is pretend that I don't care as my mom chastises me and hisses, "Bra Briefs, you have no tact at all!"

**Then Gentlemen:**

When Bulma came up to me, asking me to take Bra on as a personal assistant, my first concern was whether or not I could keep a straight face as I declined her offer. "Gohan," Bulma says seriously, "With Trunks about to be in power of Capsule Corporations, it could look very good if someone as well-connected as Bra could-"

"Bulma, no offense, but Bra is just a little bit-" As quickly as I began, Bulma cut me off. I stopped, cleaning my glasses a little bit. I know already that there's a distinct possibility this could be a losing battle. I guess I'm lucky that I didn't just insult her daughter outright in front of her. That potentially could have gone very, very wrong.

Still, Bulma's trying to play nice. "Look, give her a chance. She'll be a wonderful asset to your campaign." Bulma put her hands on her hips, "that girl hasn't done a single thing with her life since she got out of university, and it's about time that she got a taste of some responsibility. Come on, Gohan, you give Bra a shot and some sense of responsibility and duty and I'll help you out."

"Bulma… are you asking me to _babysit _your daughter?" I ask, raising a brow. No, no, no! Absolutely not, I do not want this, and I seriously cannot do it, Bulma! You've asked me to do a lot of things before, and I relent to you often, but this is just too much. I have no desire in the world to work in close quarters with that self-absorbed brat! What could she possibly help me do, give me fashion advice?

She smiles brightly at me, taking my arm, "I knew you would understand, Gohan." Her sense of satisfaction is almost mind-numbing.

**_Her Words: _**

_Gohan was laughing as he opened the door for me. The night was warm except for the very slight breeze that crossed my cheeks. Gohan looked over at me pretty seriously for a moment before saying, "You know, Bra, you really kind of pulled through for me, tonight. I'm really sort of surprised at you." _

_I smile at him from my drink. "Don't feel bad, you just weren't aware of my many talents." Deciding to loosen up the mood a bit, in great humor I say, "You never told me what you do, or why you own a limo, Gohan." I say, cocking my head to the side. I'm looking around. I smile at him pleasantly, running my hand over the black leather seats. My nails are painted a deep red, they match my dress and my skin looks like porcelain white as I fix my eyes on Gohan. He's enjoying himself after a successful evening. _

_You know, I see him close his eyes contentedly, and through his shirt I can make out what must be pure muscle, and I lick my lips and a wicked idea comes to mind. Suddenly, I want him every bit as badly as I'm sure he did me. _

"_You didn't think I was so successful?" He asked, raising a brow. I ignore the urge to say it's hard to picture someone as stuffy as he doing well in life. He swirls the wine in his glass. He's smiling at me despite himself, getting used to the idea of being in my presence often and even finding me charming. In spite of some pretty clear efforts on his party, he's feeling something confusing towards me that he's unsure about and he's indulging himself after a few bottles of wine. _

_I'm feeling some pretty uncertain things for him as well. _

_I gave him a small, unsure smile, "You just seem kind of important, like I should know about you." Really, I'm watching Gohan drink. I'm watching the sarcastic smirk form on his lips, and I'm starting to love every feature on his face. _

_Working in close quarters with Gohan will do things with you. He is stuffy and uptight, but he's also charismatic and confident. I can only appreciate his intelligence, and after answering phones for him and getting him coffee all week I look over at him and smile and pretend I don't know what it is he does for a living. _

"_Bra, I'm a politician. I've just been re-elected." He looks a little annoyed, "I mean, after a full week of running around after me you didn't really notice that? What did you think 'election night' meant?" _

_I ignored him, "A politician?" I asked, looking upwards and lacing my fingers together, "Is that so?" I ask, leaning forward. Suddenly my lips are on his collar and he looks over at me. I grin at the classic kiss I've just left on his shirt with my lipstick. His mouth is opened wide at shock in shock and amusement at my audacity. I lick my lips. "Are you going to take off your tie, politician?" _

_His hands are warm, his suit is crisp, and his shoes are shining like his eyes. He's so pulled-together, unlike… me. I could really have some fun with this. _

_I shoot him an award-winning grin. Gohan had a choice. I could practically see the desire in his eyes as his blood pumped quickly and he put his glass to the side. He leaned forward just slightly, and I realized that he was addressing the driver and not me when he said, "Raise the divider, and drive around the park until I tell you to stop." This was Son Gohan's commanding tone, and I wonder if it kind of gets him off because I could see something inside of him in dire need of conquest. _

_He looked over at me with his lips turned upwards and his eyes sparking and we had sex in the backseat three times before we finally took me home, dizzy and disoriented with pleasure, drunkenness, and confusion. Recalling his hands on my back and the curves of the muscles I didn't think he still had, I shiver deep into the night. Biting my lower lip I can still smell him and remember the way his hands felt on my thighs when he pulled my skirt up. I recall how quick he is to move me any way he wanted it, and the way that the sweat droplets formed on his chest where he'd unbuttoned the first several buttons and I liked to watch his heavy breathing. I remember the way his voice sounded when he choked out cries for God, and my name, and very occasionally he would say something like "this can't be happening" or "this is wrong" but I know he's beyond reprimanding himself even at this point. Arrogant as he can be, I bet Gohan thought that he deserved sex with me as some kind of fun treat for all of his hard work during the campaign. I remember I was thinking one thing. _

_Let's see how much fun someone so uptight can have. _

**He thinks back on the whole thing in his hour of darkness:**

Panic is setting in. Really, I don't know what it is I've done. I don't know what to do, or what I should say to my wife tomorrow morning, I take a million showers and I don't sleep. Eventually, I plop into a chair with nothing but a towel around my neck and a pair of boxers on.

Okay. Very calmly am I going to try to recount exactly what has been going on in my life since the night of my mother's funeral, the day Bulma Briefs approached me and asked me to look after her little daughter because she was reckless without purpose or activity. Really, I should have known better. How do you say no to Bulma Briefs, though? The better question eventually would become, how do you deal with Bra Briefs?

**I hire Bra Briefs. Tension mounting, we eventually sleep together. At first she's the most irritating addition to the team, criticizing my suits and "cold demeanor" but when at the last minute she pulled some strings and got me an interview with a very important reporter that went splendidly well, I was already drunk with joy. By the time the polls came in, it was obvious that I'd won, and she had a great part in my success. I saw her in a different way and sure, it was invigorating, but it doesn't take long for the guilt to set in. I tell her that I love my wife and it can't happen again. But first I have to catch her. **

"Would you just get back here?" I hissed, "Bra," I called her name but she didn't look back. Of course she wouldn't, she's ridiculously difficult when she wants to be. "Bra, I'm _faster _than you!"

At that she whips around to shoot me a very nasty glare. It's comical and adorable all at once, and the best part is that she really is trying to be angry with me. "What do you want?"

"Look, how long are you going to keep avoiding me?" I ask, still trying to take her wrist.

"How am I avoiding you?" Bra crossed her arms around her chest, "I'm sorry, you're off with your family and your career, and we live two very separate lives. There is nothing to avoid."

"Bra," I say, looking around, "Look, can we go somewhere private and talk, please?" But I can't really handle her being difficult, so even though I know she's going to temporarily get angrier, I grab her wrist and suddenly we're in the air, and I'm taking her somewhere quiet, and alone. I can breathe clearly again, I can hear myself think.

These days when I touch Bra's hand I immediately remember the night we spent together, so our bodies crushed together does not really help. I'm trying to push my attraction aside, either way, and true to my prediction, Bra Briefs screeches and tenses in my arms, "Really!"

I made it quick, hoping that Bra quiets down as she rushes to take her shoes into her hands. She stands there, barefoot and trembling with a single hand on her hip and she's about to start shouting, "Gohan! What did you do that for? If you wanted to be somewhere alone, we can just take a car like normal people! Also, is this really what you call a place to be alone? The middle of the-what is this? Is this the forest outside of your house?" She asks, gesturing around.

"Bra, calm down," I say with a laugh. "It's not private if you raise your voice." I need her to keep her voice time just in case somebody finds out.

Grudgingly she follows me. I sit on a rock by the river, and she stares at me. "It's…" She trails off, looking at the rock and then back to me. Somehow, this is pretty comical as well. Truly, she has no concept of what it is to be outside. Her parents have completely and entirely spoiled her. She is, in every sense, a princess.

"Bra, how often do you go outside?" I ask, patting the seat next to me.

Rolling her eyes she moved to sit near me, but she was sure to keep her distance. "So really, what is it?"

"Bra, I _really_ think we should talk about this."

"What?"

"That night we had sex, Bra." I said, rubbing my neck. I'm nervous to say it, but I feel worse that the words have to linger in the air for a few moments before she responds.

"Yeah, about that," Bra says, shaking her head. "Look, if you want to do it again that's fine, but really I don't know if there's anything to say about that."

I open and close my eyes, staring hard at her. "Bra, I love my wife very much. It was just a one-time deal, okay? You can still hang around Pan sometimes if you want, but other than that… maybe it would be a good idea if I got you transferred over to somewhere else."

"Okay." She said with a shrug. "Just don't tell my dad I slept with you, he'll probably be pretty pissed."

In retrospect I feel like I should have known at the time that something was wrong with a girl who can spend a night with someone and then shrug it off. I kind of wanted to tell her that I was sorry, or explain how it was a mistake, but she was so apathetic, so indifferent to even recognizing that what we'd done was wrong that it was hard to convey to her my regret.

I'm not a bad man. I promise I'm not a bad man; I just gave in one night when I had a little too much to drink. Bra Briefs has no appeal to me. I love my wife. I love my wife. I love my life.

**She says:**

"Bra," Goten says, wrapping an arm around me, "Look, I know you feel weird that you're telling me this, but you've got to understand that I've heard things way more screwed up in my day."

Despite myself I smile at Goten through my tears. "I'm sorry. I know he's your family and-"

"Bra, _you're _my family too. And I've got to tell you," he says kindly, "the other woman never gets the man in the end."

Suddenly, I feel like I understand this. My tears understand this. I don't understand how he can be so callous and kind and sweet all at once. It's not really so much that I ever really _liked _Gohan as the fact that he thought he could just brush me off to the side. And still, I feel my anger flare.

I swear on my father's name, I will not only get Gohan, but I'll make him suffer too. I'll destroy him from the inside out and make him wish he never met me.

"Goten," I say, crossing my arms over my chest, after wiping my face with the back of my hand. "What if I don't want to get him in the end, anymore? What would you say?"

My brother's boyfriend raised a brow. "How do you mean?"

"Well, I think we can help each other out. You and Trunks are trying really hard to hide your relationship from the family, aren't you?"

"Yeah? So?" Goten asks, raising a brow. "Bra… if you're going to suggest that we-"

"I don't see why we can't." I smile "What if we pretend to go out? Then they think you're straight for just a little while longer, and I get to-"

"Mess with my big brother's marriage? I think not." Goten said.

"Come on now, Goten, how much do you _really_ care about Gohan's marriage to Videl?"

Goten pauses for a minute. "Okay, better question, then: why do I care about helping you hurt my brother?"

"You don't." I said, looking over at him and taking his hand in mine, "but you don't control Gohan's reactions or his emotions. Just focus on what you're getting out of this, and leave all of the side-effects up to me."

Goten shook his head, "Bra, you can't just try to push people along like pawns. You know Gohan's eventually going to figure out that you're just trying to get his attention."

"By that time, he'll have given me what I need."

"What's that?" Goten asks me, raising a brow.

"I just want to make him feel what he made me feel. Is that so wrong, Goten?"

**He thinks: **

**She says she understands, but when she brings a familiar face to my next function I come to find that I'm not as alright with her belonging to anyone else as I thought I was. **

I'm not really the jealous sort, but when I see her walk in with my brother on her arm and the way that she looks over at him adoringly, it's very, very hard to keep a straight face and I notice that my collar's just gotten tight. My mind has immediately cast itself back to a night where she trailed her tongue down my cheek and gripped my hips, tilting her head back occasionally to cry out my name in flawless passion. I remember the little beads of sweat that rocked on her brow to the beat of our movement. I am overwhelmed with this.

"Gohan!" Videl says, taking my arm, "What's wrong with you?"

"Uh, did you know Bra and Goten were together?" I asked despite myself.

"Your brother's kind of a playboy, Gohan. Also, what if they've just come together as friends? I thought you liked Bra a little more these days, anyway?" My stomach lurches at the conversation with my wife.

I put a hand on her shoulder without responding, "Videl, I'll be right back."

"Hey, you guys." I say, smile placed on my lips, "I'm so glad you could come-together."

Goten looks at Bra, and then back at me and he gives me something like a smile. His hand's pretty complacent on her waist and he knows that I'm looking at it. "We're here supporting you, Gohan."

Bra Briefs smiles at me like nothing's wrong at all and I want to tell Goten that she's wicked. "Well, do you want to get me a drink, Goten?" She asks. He takes his leave almost immediately with a little possessive squeeze of her shoulder I don't miss.

"Bra," I say, looking in any other direction but hers, "Do you think we could go over some stuff for my next public speech?"

"Oh, I don't know." Bra says, putting a hand on her hip, "How's your family going to feel about you skipping out to do more work when tonight's a party and you should be relaxing and enjoying yourself?"

She sees me flinch and she smiles at me, "Then, a dance." Before she can protest I'm leading her away from her drink and her Goten and we're moving our bodies in time in a way that I was not exactly hoping for.

"So, are you having the time of your life?" Bra asks.

"It always seems to get livelier with you running in and out. I want you to work with me again. I like your eye."

"I'm sorry, Gohan," She murmurs in my ear. "But I have a feeling that you don't exactly just want me to come and work for you because of my eye." And it's true, because I can barely handle myself right now. Proximity is really driving me mad. Goten's gone off to talk to Trunks, and Bra grins. "Look, you've distracted my date now."

"Is that a problem?" I ask, cocking my head to the side. "Is my company so awful?"

Bra looks over at me, and I feel her lips on my ear when she leans in close, pressing her body against mine, "No offense, but you're just kind of too old and boring for me and I've found someone better."

**_I'm not a good girl_**

_Vomit. _

_You know, I'm kind of in one of those out-of-body moments where I can see myself, lurched over the waste basket in the bathroom of some fast food joint. I hate throwing up. _

_Was it the alcohol? The girl in the one and only stall (the one that beat me to the bathroom) is also throwing up but her friend is with her in there holding her hair back as she tries to stand still enough to not get bile on her dress and bag or shoes._

_Her shoes were pretty cute. _

_It couldn't have been the alcohol, I only had one beer. It was a good beer too, and I don't typically care to drink beer. I wash my mouth in the sink and run cold water over my cheeks. I feel awful and dizzy and I haven't been able to eat all day. I'm bringing this upon myself, I know. _

_I just want tonight to be over. How do you make time pass more quickly? _

_I have to get cleaned up because tonight my parents are having a dinner. It's Pan's parents' anniversary and we're all so very happy about it. I wipe my mouth again, still my eyes feel heavy and I don't quite feel well at all._

_Goten decided that our last date was pretty fun, so despite Trunks' suspicions he's decided to escort me to their party. See? I knew he was just as warped as me. It's their anniversary and now all Gohan's going to be able to think about is how I look on Goten's arm. _

_I smile at him, and with my hand still on Gohan's arm I lean in and kiss my date. Goten smiles at me, touches my cheek and runs off to go find Trunks. My dearest friend and ally, you're going to make a great brother-in-law. _

_We sit down to eat, and my mother and father seem relieved that I've made it on time and am eating silently across from Son Gohan. At first he says little if anything, but soon his wife encourages him to speak. With his face still red, he begins speaking slowly about something entirely unappealing and disinteresting to me. _

_I get a wicked thought and inwardly smile as my foot outstretches. At first he visibly flinches to feel my foot running up and down the side of his leg as his wife looks over at him, wide eyed and confused. Did you marry her because she was this naïve, or was it just a convenience? I thought they said Videl was the first human girl to truly understand that Gohan's a Saiya-Jin. _

_Gohan puts just a little bit of weight on my ankle with his other foot, this is something of a warning and lightly I begin to laugh. Everyone looks over to me, and my mother shoots me a dirty look like I've done something taboo and inappropriate._

_I'll show them taboo and inappropriate. _

"_I'm going to the bathroom." I say to them all, standing abruptly, and watching Gohan out of the corner of my eye. He can't say anything more and already I'm gone. _

_He follows me. His eyes are black when he presses the bathroom door open and enters without a word. His face is stony and concentrated on me and nothing but. Already his hands are on my hips and his lips are hot on my neck. _

"_Why, Mr. Son, this is so inappropriate-" I say with a look mocking surprise. _

"_Shut up." He says very softly, like he hadn't even said it at all, and he's lifted me and pressed me against the wall of the bathroom stall. I grin at him and he's already darting his fingers between my legs, in and out of my waiting sex._

_I find myself obsessed with his thick, black belt. The leather is sleek and smooth and he almost growls at me as I touch him with my fingertips, "Get on with it! We don't have a lot of time." _

_I've slipped his belt from his pants and I'm tying his hands as tightly above his head as I can. "You're serious?" He asks, raising a brow, "I can just-"_

"_I want you to fuck me without using your hands." I say sternly. I raise my dress above my shoulders and then head. It falls silently to the floor, forgotten and dirty and ignored. I bite my lip and look straight in his clouded obsidian orbs. "You'll have to look at me the whole time but you can't touch me." He is only too willing to oblige. _

_We have sex, quick and crammed, and as I pull my clothes back on, I say, "Tell Mrs. Son happy anniversary for me." I grin at him with a wink as I slip out the back. I never came back to the table, and Gohan said he didn't see me after I left. My dad was the only one that thought it was weird. _

**He says:**

**The next day I am furious.**

**I'm out with my wife on a day that's supposed to appreciate all that Videl and I have been through together, and Bra has decided to go out with someone else.**

"**Why are you seeing him, anyway?" I snapped. I hate Bra's games, and how catty she is, and how she dodges questions and tries to blame everything on everyone but herself, when in reality most if not all of this is her fault. **

"**I did it to hurt you." She says very plainly. "Because now you have to sit around wondering if you've been one-upped or not in bed by your own little brother, and because now you get to think about how much you loved him, and how much you want me, and how now you don't know what to do because you can't choose who to hate more out of the three of us."**

"**The three of us?" I ask, but she laughs at the bewilderment in my voice. **

"**You, me, and Goten, of course." she says with a smile on her face. She looks so satisfied; I wonder exactly how she's getting rewarded out of all of this. My temper is flaring and along with it all I'm starting to focus on how much I want to have her entirely, again. **

"**Bra, I hate all of us. But this is getting ridiculous. Have you thought about what I asked you at all?"**

"**You really want me to come back and work with you after all of this?" Bra asks, hand on her hip, "you just got done yelling at me because you didn't have enough decency to keep it in your pants on the night of your anniversary and now you're offering me a job? How likely!"**

"**Are you going to be my assistant or not?" I snap. **

**Bra watches me, and she's forced to step back when I put my hands on her waist and step closer to her until she's backed up against a wall. How do those books feel pressed up against your back, Bra? You seem to have done it everywhere. "I can't believe you've called me over here to yell at me for sleeping with you like you have no agency at all and then offer me a job! You've got a lot of nerve, Gohan."**

"**But think about how much time we'll be spending together, we'll really be forced to get over this attraction of ours." I say this like it's the logical thing to believe. We're about to enter a sick cycle downwards where we have sex, fight about my work, she leaves, someone comes crawling back, she yells at me about Videl, and then we have sex again. **

**I cannot tell you how many times Bra's been hired, fired, and quit as my personal assistant, and never once did my wife ask me to look her in the eyes and say that our relationship was anything but professional. **

**_It started with a Lady:_**

_You want to know what makes me tick. You want to know what makes me real. You want to know just where I've been. My whole life revolves around your absence, literal or emotional. You'll never be mine, and I savor each time I get to enter Eden with you again and pretend like it's going to last forever. My whole life revolves around your absence, around the way that we come together, diverge, and pretend like it never happened. _

_He's taken to drinking more and more, progressively of course and but this is the first time that I actually have to pull him away from public. By the end of his term, that number will have increased significantly. My long coat flickers in the wind as I pushed him in the car. I quit earlier that day after a little argument about nothing, but still I'm so dutiful to him when I see he's about to make an ass of himself in public. _

_I care entirely too much. I should let him make a fool of himself. It would serve him right, to go and ruin his career over me. Still, I grab his shoulder and he looks back over at me and immediately without a word he's following me out. His eyes dart down to my short black dress, and a grin plays on his lips but only I see it and tomorrow he'll be glad for it. _

"_There's nothing to see here, people." Gohan is so drunk that he can barely move. I pick him up, and help him into the car. "Drive." I say, and off we go. _

_He looks at me and he sort of smiles. "You came back." _

_I say nothing to him; I just hold his head up as we drive and help him up a few flights of stairs until we practically pour through the door. Soon he's collapsed on my bed, and I bet he doesn't even know where we're at. _

_He'll be shouting tomorrow that I brought him back to my place for the evening to clean him up, and not to his wife's, but what do I care about Son Gohan anyway? _

"_Mister Son, you're a terrible person." I say very carefully, and then I kick him in the back from behind as he tries to get up such that he falls back over. Just a slight print from my shoe shows up on his perfect white shirt and I smile. _

_He sort of coughs a little bit but eventually he manages to gather himself to his feet. "You're going to regret doing that." He says, eyes dancing at me. His fingers are already brushing against my dangling ankle, moving over the straps of my stilettos, "You know, these can be kind of dangerous." _

_His fingers are warm and his hand is huge over my ankle and for a second he looks like he's about to remove them, but he leaves them on, instead letting his hand trail up my leg to my knee. "Where are we?"_

"_This is my condo." I say, "I'm going to take care of you tonight, Mister Son." _

_He smiles at me almost broadly, like those were the words he was expecting to hear me say it. He relaxes slightly before pulling me down against him with a wicked grin and lust gleaming in his eyes. _

_The phone rings and he makes his body heavier in my lap so that I can't get up when I try. "It could be this guy…" I trail off._

_Gohan frowns. "What happened to Goten?"_

"_I date, Gohan." I said sternly. "Come on, get up."_

_He yawns, readjusting himself and lacing his fingers behind his head. "You're with me right now." He says, "And nothing's going to change that." _

_For the record, he left my shoes on and told his wife that he got scratched training with his dad when she saw the hole-like marks on his hips and back the next day. _

**And then the men: **

She's pulled my head into her lap and her long crimson nails are running over my forehead, brushing her cool hand over the sweat. Since Bra came back to work for me, she's really taken good care of me.

_I'm just trying to focus on a few of the sensations I'm suddenly very aware of: your hand stroking my brow, my head in your warm little lap. What is that smell? It's sweet and exotic and faint, but everywhere. It's kind of like you. I move my head in your lap to grip your knee and I savor your fishnets between my fingertips._

"_You're a terrible person, you know." She says, slowly, shaking her head at me. "The worst sort. You pretend you're really good and honest, Gohan, but you're not. That's what makes it so bad, because you're such a liar. And everyone believes you and expects you to be so good and pure all day every day, kind of like a trained monkey. It's got to be really hard to be you."_

_I sighed, my eyes opening and closing just slightly. I shift against her just slightly to give her more access and she laughs. The smell of her perfume lingers in the air. "The suffering I must endure includes you, of course." _

"_What about me?" Bra asks, looking down at me. I feel her lips touch mine very lightly, and her tongue rests on my bottom lip for half a second. "All I've ever done is help you, Gohan."_

_I laughed at the idea of this, "You know, before you started working for me-"_

"_Which time?"_

"_The _first _time, I used to think you were horribly spoiled and… unmanageable."_

"_And now?" Bra asks, laugh ready on her lips. Her hand brushing through my hair, over and over, I just want to flip her over and crush her under my body. It's lulling me, and every part of me feels heavy and adored, even under the playful look in her eyes. _

_I see Bra's body in fragments like we live together in a dream world. I see her feet in strappy heels, her long legs, short skirts or shorts, her bust, her neck, her face. _

**Months have passed and I am still musing: **

_I always feel your arms around me in my chair, slithering about me as I'm reading. I call your name slowly but it sounds more like a purr than a warning because I've been waiting for you to come distract me for a while. These are the times when I'm working at home in my study and Videl is often in the next room. She doesn't think a thing of it because she loves me and trusts me while I feel your body pressed against mine, and I take in your scent as I intently pay attention to the way your lips feel pressed up against my cheek. _

_I'm always flooded with these images of you crawling into my lap, pushing my books to the side or throwing them on my desk. _

_These moments are isolated, but they're all running around through my head until I want more so badly I'm dying from the inside out. _

**Now I'm rolling around in my bed unable to think about anything but her. _I can still feel her heel poking into my back, "Gohan, how does it feel to be treated like a toy?" I can feel the tone of her voice, and I savor the moments that we have together. _**

I feel the wrinkles in my face, and I know that I have gotten older. She makes reference to this, tells me she's getting bored, but I think that this is just a kind of warped game to her and at this point she just _says _things to get a reaction.

I'm imagining Bra in the bathroom, I can still practically hear her haggard breathing and little moans and the sounds are echoing through my head until I feel like I've gone mad. I shift my hips around uncomfortably, and still I know no relief. The cure for the itch is you, and every time I walk away from you I swear it's the last time.

You Jezebel, you put me through Hell. I've got to keep you out of my head. I'm not supposed to feel this way about you, but no matter what I do I keep getting the feeling that I'm falling when I look at you. I can't really handle this, I have so much to lose, but no matter how many times I tell myself to stay away from you, we keep finding weirder and weirder ways to run into each other.

It's not that I want to call it fate or anything, at least not with Videl in the next room. She's brushing her teeth and I'm sitting on my side of the bed, facing the opposite direction, looking at myself through the glass of the window as I hold my wedding ring between my fingers, breathing heavy and thinking about someone else. What am I supposed to do now?

I'm tasting my lips over hers, and my wife is in the next room.

That evening, I've taken three showers and still I feel guilt when I look at my wife. "Gohan," She calls my name with a little smile, "You seem so distant these days, really, you ought to tell me what's going on with you. Don't be such a stranger. You've been... different ever since your mom passed away." She says with a little smile on her face as she finds her way onto the bed next to me. "I am, after all, your wife."

My career would be over if anyone found out exactly how close I am to Bra Briefs. Videl slips into a quick sleep and I'm picking up my phone, ready to find an excuse to see you so that you can suggest a place, black and shady for us to meet. It seems suiting, it seems like the proper place for such depraved acts to take place, and yet I'm going mad because it's as if she's my only solace.

I'm picking up the phone. "Hey, I had an idea for the next fundraiser. We need to talk about it tonight."

"_Can't you just say you want to fuck me, Gohan?" _

"I'll have someone pick you up in twenty minutes."

"What if I'm with someone?"

In a harsh tone that I barely recognize, I say, "Leave him."

**Click. **

**I'm not a bad man:**

**(But look at those legs)**

* * *

-**CL**


	2. Chapter 2

**Him/**_Her_

_This can't happen anymore._

This is the way that every sexual encounter I have ever had starts, ends, and is remembered. Those four, five words ring in and out of my head, over and over again until even my best friends have stopped trying to make me come clean and turn me into a respectable lady.

It can't happen, it shouldn't have happened, it _did_ happen and I've become all too familiar with the way that my hair feels on someone else's dirty pillow before I stand, put my clothes back on wordlessly, and go about my life as though it never happened.

After years of therapy, the best mom's money can buy, they tell me that my emotions are disconnected from my thoughts and I have something like a cross between issues with narcissism and impulse control. Then I lose interest in people trying to diagnose me, label me, package me up in the pink plastic box and write on it a warning in elaborate letters: _what's wrong with her and why she's without conscience or soul _(Son Gohan later fits into this category rather well). I think _this can't happen anymore. _

The _best_ times are the ones when he says the words to me. Leaning over, naked in some cheap room in a motel because it's quick and dark he may say, "I'm sorry."

The words linger in the air and I find myself looking around, at the cheap art and rough, dirty carpet the color of puke. I remember a time not so long ago when I threw up in a trash can and imagined myself forcing out little pink flecks of me. _That's gross, Bra, _you say.

I notice how dim the lights are, and how places like this seem to be made for sin. Maybe I should buy a room in a place like this, the fit seems nice and tight and good for someone like me.

I know exactly what that tone means and as I bring my head to my hands, I find he's began to say in the most gentle tone possible, "Look, uh, Videl is-"

"Getting older?" I offered. He did not appreciate the smile on my face, and he did not appreciate the way that I pulled the sheets off of my body, fishing about for my bra. I'm not meaning to obnoxious about Videl, I just am. I'm pacing myself carefully because I'm paying so much attention to him. I'm trying to not be found out, like a spy or an ambassador, trying so damn hard to not let him in on the joke (Bra Briefs thinks you're really something, Bra Briefs finds you to be gorgeous, Bra Briefs is afraid of being hurt and she's getting dressed quickly, expectant).

I don't want you to hurt me, but I know you're about to so all I can do is brace for it. You knew this was coming, you saw this coming, and you absolutely have to just keep breathing like it doesn't mean anything at all or he wins and the only thing worse than losing him is losing in general. Come out of this on your feet and you will be fine. I'm coaching myself, repeating the words in my head so much so that I can barely hear his voice, soft and apologetic.

"Having a birthday soon," Gohan said with narrowed eyes. "Bra, I need you to not come."

I would have frozen if the part of me that was used to this hadn't taken over my body. I continued dressing without a word.

"Did you hear me?" he asks, and I can feel his eyes creating holes in my back, straight through my flesh and through my heart. He's got to be a sadist.

I turned around, rolling my eyes, "Of course I heard you."

"There's more." he says quickly, now that he can look at me. I hate being a specimen for his examination, with or without the glasses. I swallow a little bit, like I'm about to be fed to a wolf and I'm not ready for it. You know, he always talks about what a predator he thinks I am. He's the predator. He's just as much of a fake as I am. He's just pretending to be neat and clean-cut.

I have never felt so naked while undressed. "Of course there is," I say, because I feel like he wants me to acknowledge his every word, parrot it back to him. What an arrogant, self-righteous…

"This can't keep happening anymore." he says, searching the nightstand to his side absentmindedly. My mind crawls back masochistically to hours ago when that same hand was slid down my abdomen and up my shirt, when those long, pale fingers ran over my nipples. I'm nibbling on my lip and I've just about struck blood. He's looking at me but his arm is stretched around, poking about as if he's groping for something.

"Your glasses are in your coat pocket." I say, turning around. I hear him stifle something like a laugh, mirth at how well I've come to know him or something like that.

He stands. I feel his hands on the back of my neck and involuntarily do I flinch. His lips are close and I know he knows now that I'm masking so much pain I can barely stand still. "I'm sorry, Bra. We can have you transferred, if you want…" he says, trailing off as his fingertips indulge themselves, happily running themselves in and out of my hair, down my back, to my waist and up again.

I am cold, everything in me is cold and frozen like a block of ice or… or… "Don't bother." I say, without turning around.

I have no reaction to this. I have no emotional reaction to this. It doesn't matter, I don't care. I am indifferent.

"Don't be bitter," he says, a little too cruel for my taste and immediately I turn to glare at him, tears welling in my eyes.

Suddenly I feel cold and calm and smooth like a marble or a stone. This is the extent of my emotional response. I am numb and tingling on the inside because there is nothing on the inside.

The tears dry up, but there is a price. I can't control my mouth when it says, "Does it feel good to you, to always be doing this?" I demanded, a hand on my hip, "every time you get even the slightest twinge of guilt you rush to ship me off somewhere else. Well, let me tell you something, Son Gohan, you can fire me and you can end things with me as quickly as you pick them up, but no matter how hard you scramble to cover your tracks, you can't _change _the choices you've already made, or the actions you've already committed." I've literally taken backseat in my mind and with horror do I watch myself react in these ways to Son Gohan and his indifferent tone.

Gohan stares at me with a stiff lip and dark eyes. "Speaking of, Bra, what do you know about commitment? What do you really know about relationships at all? Do you even _have _those?"

My eyes widen at the implication of his words. "I know that commitment doesn't mean that you get to pick and choose when you want to be faithful to your wife!"

"You know **nothing **about my relationship with my wife!" he roared in a tone that made me flinch. I've heard my father yell and shout all of my life and still my bones are chilled when the words leapt from his beautiful lips to my trembling ears.

_Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. _

Someone knocks on the door, _"Mister? Mister, is everything alright?" _

I looked at him; my eyes asking '_What are you going to do, Mister Son?' _ My dress is back on and he's buttoning his clean, white shirt over his flawless chest. I hate doing this, admiring his body when I despise him for the flood of emotions a single word from him can give me.

No one should have this much power.

Everything is still for a moment. He clears his throat. "Everything is fine. Thank you."

He's red in the face but once he's sure we're completely alone again, he says, quietly, "Bra, I don't mean to hurt your feelings. You're a young and a beautiful girl but this is and always has been a mistake. A…" he's searching for appropriate words, "purely physical mistake," he finally decides. He shakes his head a little bit, "And I love my wife, and I want to go home."

I feel torn in this place, uncomfortable and uncertain. I don't know what to do or how to make him stay or if I even really care that he does in the first place. My emotions are all squeezed together so tightly not one can get through the passageway into my brain where it can be properly registered and appreciated.

This wild ride twenty minutes in Son Gohan's bed can create, I've started living for it and I know he has as well.

They say I no longer recognize sadness. That's so silly, though. What am I supposed to do every time I get a twinge of depression, welcome it inside and vindicate its existence? Would that not only force the sentiment to endure, to linger about my head and soul?

I want none of it, but my upper lip is trembling.

"…And what about me?" I ask, a hoarse whisper of a little sad girl's voice, a little too desperate, too open, too naïve.

"What about you?" he doesn't look up this time, like I don't deserve it or he doesn't care when he says, "We're not in a relationship, Bra. You can do whatever you like, as long as you leave me and my family alone."

This is the last time I am this vulnerable in front of Son Gohan.

**You have no idea what I put myself through. **

I ripped everything out of the book, shaking my head furiously, "I cannot believe this is happening." Things could not be getting any worse, and with so little time! The door opens and Bra Briefs walks in, smug and bored because I haven't managed to throw her a task stimulating enough.

My aid stutters and sweats as he shuffles papers saying, "Sir, I know this isn't a good time for you, but…"

"We need a solution for this, **now.**" I bring my hand down on the desk in frustration. "This is bad and I'm paying you to fix it."

"I can fix it." A voice says, lighter than my own or even my aid's, but confident.

In the folds of my memory, I can't recall what it was Bra Briefs fixed, or why I was so charmed when she grinned down at me, sitting on my desk as she spoke casually on the phone, and set it down, saying, "You're all set, Mister Son. My mom's good name is on this one, so really you ought to not screw this up."

"Bra, that's **wonderful**!" I laugh, picking her up under her arms and spinning her around the room. She laughs with me, but as I set her down my smile fades, "But stay off my desk next time."

Bra scoffs a little bit, crossing her arms over her chest, "You'd better start to realize and appreciate my greatness."

"Let's keep our tones professional at the office; I am the authority figure around here."

She rolls her eyes and leans against the doorway, watching me as I sign documents.

"Yes?" I say, finally.

"I just never really pictured you as this alpha male type. Your dad's so…"

I look up to see which of Vegeta's insults she's going to throw at my father this time.

"I don't know," she shrugs, "he's just not as assertive as you are."

**Bra Briefs is unfortunately not entirely the vain, shallow moron that I thought (hoped?) she was. In fact, she was more like Bulma than I could have ever guessed in that each interaction I have ever had with her, her presence was more than apparent. Not only did Bra show great initiative, but she did it with this electric smile that distracted everyone. It really distracted **_**me **_**(everyone)**_**. **_**It was clear that she had to go, but there was one major issue: **

Irritatingly simple, she would always say "why don't you just do _this." _It didn't matter what problem it was, Bra ran everything smoothly without being asked and she did it so well that her assumptions of power both small and large were so appreciated I couldn't find the time to tell her to stop. In some ways, I couldn't.

Soon I couldn't walk down a hall without Bra Briefs' heels clicking at my side. In a relationship, the term would be co-dependent. Bra had no limits, and neither did her imagination. She went from answering calls to being the heart and soul of all of my work in such a short amount of time I could barely wrap my head around it when I realized it, and there was no going back. I was way too late.

And yes, Bra Briefs did give me fashion advice.

_**When it became about my failings and your happiness alone:**_

I'm putting on my other woman clothes. I'm doing my other woman hair. I'm fixing my other woman makeup. I'm practicing my other woman smile. I'm waving with a slightly cupped hand like a princess or a beauty queen because he's got his eyes on me and everyone knows it.

I'm wondering if I really deserve this.

"_Come here," he said, slowly. His fingertips are warm on my temples. I'm watching him, his dark eyes as they fix themselves on me. My stomach drops like everything else in the world suddenly ceased to exist but me, me, and his lips. _

_And his fingertips, warm and moving their way through my hair. I can feel the hot air and lust escaping my lips as I strive to breathe normally, but a god is touching me, getting ready to fuck me, and I'm lost because of it. He sweeps a strand away from my eyes, and for a second we seem to be in this surreal place where we're sort of in awe of each other. Trading spotlight here and there like we were swapping kisses, marveling at each other in the most physical way imaginable. _

_Like he is suddenly unsure, he moves back a little bit. Am I so unworthy, or do you simply consider your wife? My eyes must have widened like him moving away from me was the worst thing in the world. _

_He grinned at me and gestured for me to come closer again, "Come here." he says with a little more force, and my stomach knew it had no choice. I stepped forward between Son Gohan's legs and planted my lips over his, but not before his arm and wrist wound about me, like I moved too slowly for him. My breath hitched and my thighs swelled, but he didn't seem to notice or care. He wasn't looking at me so much as a piece of meat in front of him. A desire to devour was glinting in his eyes, and I almost shivered under the weight of the gaze. It was as if his anticipation was driving him mad, and his carnal need was every bit as consuming for him as it was for me. _

_Way Better than Heaven:_

_He doesn't really ask you to do things, but it's hard to say that he doesn't tell you to do them. "Unbutton my shirt." _

"_Stop that," I utter this accursed whisper of mine in the thick evening to the smoldering look in his eyes and immediately he breathes out a smile. _

_Cocky little smile on luscious red lips. I thought only girls were supposed to have red lips, but I can't stop staring at his smile. You're hypnotizing me, stop it. This is possession, clear cut. Stop it. Still, Son Gohan leers at me in his office, barely cocking his head to the side as he asks, "Why?"_

_I can't answer, because he's hoisted me into his arms and slid me onto his waiting desk. "I thought I wasn't allowed on the desk." _

"_I'm appreciating your greatness," He sneers into my hair. _

"_I'm going to need a raise." _

**The prospect of hurting you never felt good to me.**

How do you spare someone pain? Sometimes it's hard to look Videl in the eye. When I think of the way my heart pounds when Bra's near and sending me those looks, I barely know what to do. Let me rephrase my question. I know that I could save Videl a lot of pain by ending things with Bra, but in the long run, how do you spare someone pain?

How do you look at your wife and not notice that the days are passing and with each one we grow apart? Why is it that I'm the only one of us that even notices this? She is so good that she believes everything is fine.

"_You want to blame me for your problems with your marriage?" _Bra asked, putting her hands on her hips. _"Like you two were so perfect before. You were bored!" _

Her tongue can be like a lash, sometimes. I shake my head. I'm glad to have Bra Briefs out of my life, suddenly, and ready and waiting for my wife to come home.

An hour passes. I took a shower, shaved, changed, had a drink, sat in my chair, and still Videl hasn't shown up.

Twenty minutes pass, and the door opens. I come downstairs. "Pan?" I ask.

"Yeah, Dad, it's me. I'm just running through, I was out of bread and I don't have any time to pick it up from the store. Hope you don't mind, I'm stealing yours."

"Could you at least have dinner with an old man?" I asked, looking over at her, "I mean, we are still related."

"Really, I would, but I have no time." She gives me a weird wave, one similar to the one Bra gives me when she's being dismissive, and the door clicks behind her.

When Videl finally gets home, and she wraps her arms around me, and smiles and laughs and kisses me, but when her hands find their way to my belt I find that I'm stiff and I can't do anything with her at all.

"I need a shower," I say, shaking my head, "and a drink." I practically throw her off my lap, I stand up so quickly.

She looks concerned when she gets up, frowning at me, "Long day at work?"

"Yeah," I say with a quick nod, making my way up the stairs.

She's following me a little bit, "Gohan, why are you running away from me? Did you commit murder or something today?"

I stopped at the stairwell and sort of smiled at her, "I just want a shower." I said.

"But it looks like you've already had one today." I hear her voice trail off, but I've already closed the door.

I take off my shirt. Again I find that I'm alone in front of a mirror. I just need to relax. I pour myself a drink. I take another shower.

_Hold on to me (Because I'm floating away, baby)_

_**It can be from the back if you like. **_

_I suppose, it doesn't matter whether or not I hear from you. Even though I so conveniently forgot, I was forced to remember this terrible fact: you will never, ever love me._

_ I wanted so much to find shelter in your arms. I'm battling that sense of nowhere to go and no one to go to. I have a lot of nightmares about you. Despite everything, this is entirely my fault. I wanted so much for it to be you._

_Everything's gone cold and I don't think I can make it warm ever again. _

I'm putting on my "I'm okay" makeup, like when I put on my "other woman" makeup so long ago. I'm tenderly dusting my cheeks and lips with glitter and glosses, like when I put on my "girlfriend" makeup when I was "with" Goten. I'm making eyes, like when I put on my "single girl" makeup the night we met, the night we really got acquainted with each other. I'm looking around trying to hold it all in so as not to mess up. Mascara goes on last. Then I finish up the hair.

It's war paint, that's what it is.

I'm blowing kisses and checking my nails like when I put on my "I miss you" makeup yesterday. And when only weeks ago I was putting on my "he's annoying me, I could be available soon" makeup. And I think I took advantage of someone, too, yesterday at lunch. That's progress, I'm making new friends.

It's all war paint, a hidden message, a plea bargain.

I'm admiring my work in the mirror. I'm forcing a smile so hard it cracks my cheeks and I can barely smooth down the lines.

I'm pouting and checking every detail twice, like Santa recommends. Like when I put on my "I'm getting you back" makeup the last time this happened.

My stomach is making sudden jerking movements. Like when I didn't put anything on, because you said I was so beautiful I didn't need makeup at all.

_**Not that you need any "I Told You Sos," but… **_

Goten's eyes are wide and sweet as he says, "Wow. So that's it, huh?"

"Sarcasm is not becoming," I snap impatiently, crossing my arms over my chest. He touches my arm gently and I'm forced to look up at him.

"Hey, don't pout," Goten says, "I'm sorry, it's just this whole thing with you and my big brother is kind of getting weird."

"Yeah, I could say the same for you." I retort, turning my nose up.

He flushed.

"So how are my favorite two people?" I ask, plopping down on his couch. I practically sink in it and I love the way my body feels encompassed, embraced.

"Well, I'm not going to lie to you, Bra, your brother's kind of freaked out that we're pretending to date." Goten says, rolling his eyes a little bit.

"What, is he jealous?"

"Yeah, actually," Goten said with a bit of a laugh, although the smile fades and I can tell he and my brother have had words over our relationship. As Goten thumbs through a music catalogue, he looks up with a chuckle, "He's also on to you. He knows you want something."

"Does he know what it is I'm after?" I say, throwing my arms back as I examined Goten's white ceiling. It looked so tidy and fresh and clean.

"Do _you _even know what you're after, Bra?"

_**He's not so bad, sometimes, you know:**_

"_Oh, kitty!" I squealed, charging in front of him in the streets._

"_Bra, what the-" he dashes after me, annoyance written all over his face. _

"_Kitty!" I demanded as I pointed to the garbage bin, stomping my foot. Determination smoldered in my eyes as I looked on at Son Gohan and he groaned in irritation as he began to take off his suit jacket. _

"_You have absolutely got to be kidding me," he muttered, stalking towards the garbage bin. _

"_**Kitty!**__" I hissed, kneeling down, "He's stuck."_

_This is what victory over a man like Son Gohan looks like. _

"_Bra, why is it that anyone else that hears a stray on the street leaves it alone, but you, you dear…" Gohan grunted, shaking his head at the stench of the alley, "__**You**__ have to pick all of them up and nurse them back to health!"_

"_My grandfather taught me to be kind to animals." I said stiffly, leaning into my purse. It's not weird at all that I carry around cat treats and the corners of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to feed to the squirrels. I promise. "Come on, little guy." _

_With a sigh of frustration, Gohan looks around and lifts the whole dumpster with a hand, "Would you just grab the damn thing?" he whispers, "This could look __**really **__weird, Bra." _

_The cat, frightened of course at stupid Gohan's brash actions began to try to run away. "Damn it, Gohan! I liked him!" I hissed. _

"_He's right there, just reach under and grab him. "_

"_Gohan, I can't go in there."_

"_Why not?" Gohan demanded._

_A low whine, "My shoes-"_

"_Yeah, you care __**so **__much about animals," he said, scoffing. "I'm about to put it down, Bra, with or without the stupid cat."_

_I squeaked, feeling the pain as my shoes dug deeper in the ground and the moist soil touched my knees. "Kitty, kitty," I called. _

_The poor creature mewed and Gohan groaned in frustration, but was silenced after a look from me. Eventually the little cat made its way towards me and I scooped him into my arms._

"_I think I'm going to name you Montgomery," I said, admiring the kitten._

_Gohan shook his head sternly, "We are not taking him back with us to the office."_

"_Why not?" I asked._

"_Where do you plan on having that thing stay, Bra?"_

"_With us, of course," I say matter-of-factly with the brightest smile I can manage. _

_Already he's rubbing his forehead again, taking off his glasses and cleaning them before putting them back on, "No. It's not going to happen, Bra." _

"_We have a new mascot," I smiled, ruffling Montgomery's fur. Even the cat seemed to understand the situation and blinked at him before shooting him a superior, haughty look. _

"_It's not happening Bra, he's going to stink up the office and I don't know if I even think you have enough responsibility to take care of the cat." Gohan was rubbing his head, mostly muttering to his own palm, "I don't even know if I think you're responsible enough to take care of yourself." _

"_We'll call him Monty and get him a bright blue collar, alright? Blue. It will match his eyes." _

_"Absolutely not, Bra, don't even think about it."_

_We're heading up the steps to the office. He's doing everything he can to convey his frustration: he's shaking his head and squeezing his fists. I'm already one step ahead of him. _"_This is a Capsule Corporations building. My mother donated a large amount to give this to you. Cats are allowed." With a wicked grin, I close the door behind me. His eyes narrow when the lock clicks._

"_You're not going to do it." He says, shaking his head and turning back to his desk. "I have things to do, go amuse yourself elsewhere. Better yet, take that mongrel to the pound." _

"_His name," I snapped, "is Montgomery Briefs, and he is staying right here." _

"_This is absurd, Bra." Gohan shook his head, "You can keep the stupid cat, but you had better take care of it or at least hire someone that will."_

_With a grin I chirped, "Oh, Montgomery gets a personal assistant too!" _

_Gohan glared at me. "Come here, personal assistant, and fulfill your duties." _

_He obviously doesn't mind animals that much._

**Him**

When my little brother entered the room, he seemed nervous as he announced, "I've come to talk to you."

"What is it, little brother?" I ask with a smile on my lips. "What can I do for you?" I hadn't seen Goten in a while, but it was interesting that he would come to me for something these days. Sourly, I reflect on how much time he spends with Bra and Trunks.

"Well, it's just my girlfriend was talking to me the other day about something and-"

"Wait, your girlfriend?" I frowned. I don't understand.

"Bra Briefs," Goten clarified in a matter-of-fact tone. "We've been going out for a little bit. I thought you noticed."

"Oh."

"We've been kind of maybe getting serious?" He says excitedly, twiddling his fingers a bit.

"And?" I ask, beginning to wish I had my phone on me or something that I could use to escape this situation. I'm moving towards my desk, pouring myself a drink and hoping that this conversation was not about to go towards the subject of-

"Well, I just want to talk to you, about you know, marriage."

God forgive me, but I coughed my drink up and he raised a brow. "Marriage?" I finally asked.

"Yeah, I mean, you worked with Bra, until you didn't, and I was just wondering if she seems like the sort that you'd, you know…"

Without thinking I say, "Absolutely not."

"What do you mean?" he frowns at me.

"How long have you been dating this girl, Goten?" I ask, shaking my head, "And the age difference and-"

A blush crossed my kid brother's features as he looked down and muttered, "Well, you know how Bra is."

"I certainly _do _know how Bra is."

The situation becomes tight. He looks over at me, giving me a curious glance, "Have you and Bra been-"

"Absolutely not." I say again.

He blinks a little bit, "It's just that you said you know how she is, and, well, she's really sexual, that's what I was getting at, and-"

"That is the _exact _reason you can't go off proposing to someone like that girl!"

"Because she's great in bed?" Another blink. Goten is like dealing with a young, horny version of my father. No matter what absurdities come out of his mouth, you can only find it amusing that he does so with such innocence and glee.

I begin scratching my neck, "I don't _want _to know, Goten. There's a lot more to marriage than sex, though."

"Like what?" He asks innocently.

"Think of… mom."

"Mom?" He flushes.

"Mom was always there for us. She always put everyone else before herself and she's loyal and faithful and kind."

"…So you want me to date someone that reminds me of my mother?"

"You're making this sound so much weirder than it has to." I say, rolling my eyes. "I'm saying that you should look for qualities in a woman that show that she's going to be good, and I think we can both agree that mom's kind of a primo mother and wife."

"But Bra has a ton of money so we'll have servants so she won't need to cook or clean like mom. She doesn't like or want kids and neither do I, so that only leaves one thing, and Bra is more than capable of taking care of me in that way."

I'm biting my lip. "You know, just because she's beautiful and captivating does not mean that she's going to stick around. Does she even seem like the commitment type to you?"

"I don't know, maybe she just wants to be loved. Why, what do you think she wants?"

I flush. To cheat on you with me.

"I ask because you worked with her. You had to have talked to her."

"About work." I said, shortly.

With a smile, Goten pressed, "Noticed things about her?"

"About how well she works."

"No fair," Goten sort of pouts, "this is the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with and you're withholding vital information from me!"

"You've only told me, little brother, that this is the woman that you want to spend the rest of your life having sex with. That's no legitimate reason to marry someone."

"Says the guy that probably never screws anything," Goten crossed his arms over his chest snidely, and he added, "You just seem to not want me to really be with her at all."

Something like a cross between the desire to punch him in the face at those words and to blurt out that he's being used surges through my body. I don't know which voice to listen to: I take satisfaction in the fact that I'm enjoying plenty of sex, I'm afraid because everything is dangling on a string and it could all come crashing down, and I'm just a little bit frustrated that Bura's right when she says everyone thinks me so squeaky clean.

Never screws anything? Little brother, you have no idea. Little brother, it was your woman raking her nails down my back not so long ago. She was panting and begging and squealing out _my name. _Little brother, trust me.

"I wasn't aware that I was trying to hide that fact." I said sourly.

Who was the one that did this, and why is her power so great? Who is the one that turned me against myself, and my family, and my wife? Who is the one that has put violence in my heart and lust in my veins?

And why?

"Why?" he demanded.

"Because she's bad for you and I can't possibly fathom how such a vain, promiscuous woman like Bura could ever be good for anyone, especially not my little brother, and I care about you, and I can't let you do this."

"I don't _want _to be like you and Videl though." Goten whines. "Think about this from my perspective. Don't you think that, all things considered, Bra is everything I want?"

"What's wrong with Videl and me?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Well, you guys were pretty great together at first but…"

"But…?"

Goten ran a hand through his hair, "Where's the guy that used to bone his girlfriend behind buildings after crime busts when mom thought you were asleep at home? Where's the guy that used to sneak off to go make out with her when you were supposed to be watching Trunks and me?"

I flinch at the memory, at the thought of Videl's rapid breathing and parted lips. He can tell he's struck a nerve and he gives me the most irritating smile I've ever seen. "That was a very long time ago." I said, red faced. "And I don't know why you and Trunks were so interested in spying on us."

"Is that why it's so fun having a girl like Bra around the office?" he asked, suddenly.

"Goten, I just told you that-"

"I'm just sort of starting to feel like you don't want me to be with Bra for me, but also you don't want Bra to be with anyone for you?"

"Where do you get off suggesting something like-"

He cut me off, looking me square in the eyes as he said, "Just tell me this: are you attracted to her? Is that why you asked her to leave?"

I flushed, "Bra Briefs is young enough to be my daughter. How could you possibly ask me if I have an attraction to her?"

**Infinite, eternal, encompassing, everywhere **

She's out shopping right now. My hand is gentle on Videl's waist and she's just slipped into a lingerie shop, because where else would she go, a bookstore? I shake my head and look over to Videl, "Hey, I'll be right back."

"Okay," she says, absentmindedly, "I'll be in this store, Honey."

I nodded at her, and she her eyes narrowed when she looked up to see me.

"Do you feel less empty after you buy things?"

Bra smiled, looking around at all of her possessions. She's trying something on and I'm trying really hard to not stare at her. How often do I speak to her as I look to the other side of the room. Still, she grins like a cat when she responds, "Yes. I always feel just a little more filled up and crammed up after I spend all of my mom's money. Do you want to try it one day?"

"Don't be presumptuous, Bura. I have my own things, more important things. Like family," I said in a low voice, "and I think that you misunderstood me when I told you to leave me and my family alone."

"It occurs to me only on a vague level that this is supposed to move me emotionally."

"Yesterday my little brother came by my house, asking me about _marrying you." _Bra's eyes widened a little bit. "You're going to tell me what that was all about, now."

Bra giggled, "You mean I'm going to be a blushing bride?"

"Not so fast," I snapped, reaching out to take her by the arm, "What did you do?"

Faintly it occurs to me that I despise her.

"Yeah, Bra, what did you do to make Gohan grab your arm that way?" I hear a voice from behind and Goten's eyes are hot on me. I released her, running a hand through my hair.

"I'm sorry."

"Do you want to marry me?" Bra asked, looking straight at Goten with watering eyes.

"Well… first I need to go have lunch with Trunks. I actually came to take your bags back to Capsule Corporations. But it seems like no one can leave you alone with Gohan these days without something _crazy_ happening."

I'm frozen here, staring at Goten, and then Bura, and back again. With a quick, gleeful kiss Bra hands him at least a dozen bags and he sort of nods at me before stalking off.

She looks at me, "I need you."

I shake my head.

"It won't tie itself, you know."

"Oh." I say, "of course." As I'm tightening her straps, I give a grin and pull them as hard as I can without breaking the strings. She gasps a little bit in surprise and pain. "I've been thinking," I say, leaning in close enough for my chin to barely touch her naked shoulder, "maybe it's harsh to think that we can't work together."

"I don't know," she says a little hoarsely. "What makes you think I'd even want to come back?"

I shrugged a little bit. "I'll get rid of that awful cat if you don't."

"Tell Mrs. Son happy birthday." she said sourly, focusing on something else in the darkness with shining, bitter eyes. I give in without even being asked to, this is a problem.

"I don't know why you have to do that." I say, shaking my head. "In the entire course of our friendship, I've never _not _been married. " I looked up, "I need to get back now… just, think about it."

_**Being chastised has never been so fun: **_

"Bra," he says as he fixes his icy blue eyes on me, "I need you to tell me exactly how involved you are with Son Gohan."

"I work for him." I say, dull and blank inside.

He sucked in air, as if trying to summon some patience in along with it, "I know that you've been playing with Goten, and whatever it is that the two of you are trying to do, I'm putting a stop to it now."

"What, are you jealous?" I respond, putting my hands on my hips.

"Bra, we've got the same blood. I love you, but you can't manipulate me the same way you can other people." Trunks takes another deep breath and tries again, "Please don't try to make this something it's not. I'm worried about you, not concerned that you're going to steal my very gay boyfriend from me. You literally just don't have the balls."

"Nothing's going on, anyway." I say, shaking my head.

"You're making yourself sick." he said, shaking his head. "You're not eating, you look emaciated and tired! Whatever it is that's going on with you and this guy, it's really toxic, Bura."

I can say nothing in response.

"You are _in over your head._" My brother tells me, seriously as he can. He is too late.

"I am _not _in love with Son Gohan!" I shook my head, defiantly, "We just fool around sometimes when he's had too much to drink."

"So he initiates… everything?"

"Yes. No. Sometimes," I stutter.

**Her big brother comes up to me and I can't tell if he's trying to protect her or destroy me:**

"You know, Bra Briefs is a very special girl."

"It's good to know you hold your sister in such high regard."

"You've worked with Bra for a while," Trunks says, slowly, narrowing his eyes at me like he was ready to pounce, "how do you think of her?"

I shrugged, "Like your mother said, she's a great addition to our team. I know that she's fond of Goten. I saw them together the other day when I was out with Videl."

"Speaking of, I think that our siblings are just so _cute _together." Trunks crossed his arms over his chest, "I hear they may be getting serious."

"I don't delve into Bra's social issues." I said, shrugging again. "I'm sorry."

"Are you sure?" he asked, hostile as ever, "because from over here it's starting to seem more and more like you're really pretty fascinated with my sister. Giving her that job, making her work all these weird hours…"

"You know, Trunks, if you're trying to accuse me of something you should just come out with it." I said it slowly, but with a straight face.

"You're going to stop taking advantage of my little sister, yesterday. I thought you were _a good guy_, Gohan."

I shook my head, "Look, your sister may have a little fantasy crush on me but it would _never happen _because I love my wife too much to-"

"I _know, _Gohan." Trunks said sternly. "And it's going to stop. That's all I came here to say. The next time we have to have this talk, it will end with me showing Videl the security tapes from your office."

_Her_

_The mall was crowded and loud, bustling with energy and its pulse energized me. Even in my depression, I found a way to cheer up. Goten was with me, and that always made for a good day. _

"Look at all the single men looking at you." He said it with a laugh, shaking his head, "I guess you're still a hottie."

I shook my head a little bit with a sigh, "Somehow all of them seem boring."

"Not married and unavailable enough for you?" Goten asked with a smile on his lips.

"It's not that, about him."

"I'm curious to hear what it is about him that is so appealing to you."

"I don't know." I shrugged, "It's mostly an attraction thing."

"You liar!" Goten laughed, pointing a finger at me. "You've got it for him bad and you don't know what to do with yourself."

"Well, he'll be the first to tell you how much he loves Videl. She's the only one for him, you know."

Goten sighed at the bitterness.

"Like you said, the other woman doesn't ever get the man in the end." I repeated, waving my hand about. The cone I was holding sloshed about a little bit, and I remember focusing on how cold it felt in my grasp for a moment.

"You're saying it like you believe it, so where's this disconnect between the logic and action occurring?"

"Trunks thinks we're making each other sick." I responded, eyeing my ice cream.

"I'm kind of inclined to agree." Goten said, but when he looked up his mouth gaped open a little bit.

_Videl. _

"Oh no, no no…" Goten mutters quickly as she waves and walks over towards us. Goten plasters a smile on his face.

"Hey, you guys."

_Videl… you're so trusting and good._

"Hey." Goten says, tangling his hand in his hair. She seems more than familiar with the gesture and smiles wider.

"So what are you two doing out here? How's work going, Bra?"

"Just trying to keep busy," I say with a little shrug. Goten eyes me, and I know I have to try harder to be friendly.

_She seems like one of those do-gooders, innocent and fragile. The exact type of girl I always wanted to be but never could be because I suck._

"Well, we're probably just going to head to a movie soon, Videl."

"Have fun! Bra, I'll be sure to tell Gohan I saw you."

I forced a smile and wagged my hand at her.

The worst part was the mall seemed to fall silent. We were the both of us afraid to breathe during the whole ordeal.

"I remember when Videl used to play with Trunks and I. We were all just kids back then." Goten said it, and I know he was trying to tug at something warm and squishy and unreliable in my chest. "Do you feel any remorse at all?" He asked as he walked by me.

I bit my lip and paused for a moment before saying, "Would you hate me if I told you the truth?"

Goten sighed. "Just eat the rest of your ice cream, kid."

My thoughts were already taken over by someone else's voice.

I'm going to hurt you, he said.

I'll never hurt you, he said.

* * *

-**CL**


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